Viewing The Sins of the Past
by Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh
Summary: Teams RWBY and -NPR, Ozpin and... Ironwood! Well, they all find themselves mysteriously teleported into a room, and forced to watch a different universe. Reaction story for The Sins of the Past, by azuring-galaxy.
1. Chapter 1

**_Hey everyone! Bet you weren't expecting this. Well, of course you weren't, up until yesterday not even I knew I was going to write this. Anyway, this is a commission for azuring-galaxy, a reaction fic for his story The Sins of the Past. Although I know nothing about Warhammer 40k, it's a nice story that will probably be continued, despite currently being labelled as complete._**

 ** _No more words, onto the story! (that's made of words, but ignore me)_**

Up until that night, everything had been shaping up to be a normal day at Beacon Academy.

Ozpin had been… well, Ozpin, that meant he had skimmed through his paperwork and wisely chosen to take a relaxing walk instead, his trusty cane and even more trusty mug of coffee in his hands. Goodwitch had repaired three walls and seven doors, actually a very low number for Beacon's standards, and had of course done Ozpin's paperwork. Port had told his tall tales, and Oobleck had, as usual, dazed the students with his speeches at hyper-speed.

Team RWBY had suffered from the utter normality of the day as well. Ruby had cleaned Crescent Rose and managed to get Blake to do her homework, bribing her with some tune she had stolen from the kitchens. Weiss and Yang had played poker for hours, with the heiress getting poorer and poorer as the rounds went by. And Blake, their resident cat Faunus, had read her books all day long, even if the White Fang issue was still bothering her. After all, it had just been a couple of days since they stopped the Fang at the docks of Vale.

Team JNPR hadn't fared any better against the normalcy. Jaune had been, as usual, annihilated in combat class, even though his training with Pyrrha was slowly starting to show results. Nora had been the usual chaotic hammer maiden she always was, and she was responsible for two of the three broken walls and three of the doors. Pyrrha had been mostly with Jaune, either training him or studying with him. And finally Ren had chased after Nora the entire time, trying to stop her from doing too much damage to the school's buildings, and failing spectacularly at that.

Even far away, in Atlas, James Ironwood had had a normal day, filled with military procedures and school paperwork.

But that was going to change.

At exactly four sixty-seven -a hour no one even knew existed before that moment-, nine lights shone in Remnant, unseen by everyone and fairly unimportant. One of them shone in Atlas, over Atlas Academy. Eight of them shone in Vale, over Beacon Academy. Nine lights shone, and nine people's day suddenly turned definitely _not_ normal.

At the same time, somewhere in the Multiverse, other nine lights shone, this time grouped in the same room.

With nine identical _thumps_ , nine people fell on the room's floor.

The first to get back up was Ironwood, dusting himself off as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Almost instantly alert, he was shocked to see that he was no more in his bed, even if he was still clad the black pants and grey shirt that were his pyjama, but instead in a large room with violet walls, nine silvering couches and a large black screen.

Ozpin got up immediately after the cyborg, eyes narrowing as he took in their surroundings. He too was still clad in the green long pants and black shirt he used as pyjamas, but he had somehow managed to snatch a mug of coffee from… somewhere. "This is… peculiar," he commented lightly.

One by one, all the other people scrambled to their feet, all of them still in their pyjamas.

"W-What happened?" asked Ruby, looking around at the foreign room. "Where are we?"

"And where are our weapons?" added Yang, holding her hands up in a boxer stance. "And how did we get here?"

"Oh, maybe we're dreaming all together!" exclaimed Nora, trying to focus to make the dream bend to her will. "Oh… nope, it's not my dream. Maybe it's someone else's?"

"Nora, I don't think we're in a dream," Ren stated slowly, senses alert. "We appear to have somehow been dropped into a room… maybe in the Beacon basement? But then, why would Professor Ozpin be here, especially still in his nightwear?"

"I can assure you, this is no dream," stated Ironwood. "Besides, I was in Atlas mere seconds ago. There aren't any recorded Semblances that enable such displacement in such a short amount of time."

"How can you know it was seconds ago?" asked Ruby. "For all we know, it might've been days ago!"

"I pride myself to be extremely alert even when sleeping. I'm a Huntsman, after all." The man then looked at the third redhead, who seemed to be panicking. He recognized her immediately, and soured up a little at the reminder that she'd chosen _Beacon_ over Atlas. "Ms Nikos, is something the matter?"

"W-Where is he?" The girl wrought her hands together in worry. "Where is Jaune? Have you seen him as we landed? I-I can't find him anywhere!"

Other six sets of eyes widened and began looking around for the blond knight, but the room offered very little hiding spots, so they searched it in a very short time. Ironwood could only stand confused, while Ozpin quietly filled him in.

Finally, it was Ren who stopped the search. "We have to assume he's not here, but that doesn't mean anything bad has happened to him," he told the others, not without a vein of worry in his voice. "Look at ourselves: we're all still in our nightwear. No, Yang, I'm not trying to peek at you. Whatever took us here, it must've done so in our sleep. Maybe Jaune was simply not kidnapped."

"I certainly hope so," interjected the Headmaster. "Despite his shortcomings in combat class, he's a promising student. I'd hate to discover anything bad has befallen him."

"Oh, don't worry, he's fine," a disembodied voice rang out, startling them all, despite a few of them not showing the scare. "He's just sleeping at the moment. And you'll still find him asleep when you'll be sent back."

"Who are you?" asked Yang, looking around. "Where are you? Are you the one who took us here?!"

"To answer your questions one by one, my name is Khor, I'm currently talking through some sort of microphone since I'm in another room, and yes I am." A small chuckle was heard. "Don't worry, I didn't bring you here to harm you. It's not in my style and it's also against the rules."

Weiss narrowed her eyes and stepped forwards with an arrogant expression. "I, Weiss Schnee of the Schnee Dust Company, order you to let us go!"

"And I, Khor, am graciously going to ignore that order. Now, moving on…" The owner of the voice pointedly ignored Weiss's fuming and protests. "You might be asking yourselves why I brought you here. The answer is simple. See those couches? Take a seat and make yourselves comfortable. See that screen? I'm gonna show you something on that screen, and you'll have to watch it. As you can see there's no way out of the room you're in. I apologize for the clothes I caught you wearing, I'll exchanged them for your normal outfits soon."

More than a few blushed slightly at being reminded of their dress condition, but Ironwood crossed his arms. "You somehow brought us here, which is something I'd have thought impossible before, just to make us watch a movie?"

"It's not a movie. Tell me, are you familiar with the theory of the Multiverse?" A few nodded, but most just looked puzzled. "Let me sum it up for you. The universe you live in is just one of the infinite possible universes of Remnant. All these universes are grouped together into what we call a Dimension, and as you can guess there are infinite dimensions of different universes. All these dimensions are grouped up into… try and guess… the Multiverse. That's the gist of the Theory."

"Are you saying there are other Remnants out there?" asked Ruby, pointing to a general `out there` behind her. "Many others?"

"Infinite others, I believe. And yes, there are. Each of them is unique in some way, even if many look extremely similar. I am one of the beings who's earned the power of Wandering, and can thus walk between the universes and document what's happening in them." A polite cough stopped them from inquiring further. "Please, let's leave it at that. It's too complicated to explain. I've brought you all here to watch another of the Remnant universes, through that screen."

"Through a screen? Like a movie?" asked Yang.

"Dropping you off on another universe could cause untold damage to the fabric of space-time and the Matter Between Universes. I'm not the most knowledgeable in this field so don't ask. It's just a very bad idea, allowed only for the utmost emergencies." They nodded, and the voice continued. "As for why I didn't bring Jaune Arc here… well, let's just say it might've had some serious repercussions on his psyche, and that's not in my wishes."

"Psychological repercussions?" repeated Weiss.

"It's better if I just showed you. I hope you enjoy your time here in my fortress." There was a tap of something, likely a can, against something hard, likely the floor. Nine flashes of light later, everyone was back in their usual outfits, minus their weaponry. "You will notice how none of you feel tired. Don't worry, lack of sleep will kick in once you'll be sent back. And now, if you may, take a seat: the screen's about to start up."

The nine exchanged glances, and for once even the unflappable Ozpin seemed puzzled. One by one they took their seats on the couches and turned to the screen, that appeared to be activating. After a few more seconds of static, images started to appear, shocking them with their familiarity.

"Jaune!" exclaimed Ruby. "We're looking into JNPR's room!"

"What is the dolt doing?" asked Weiss, peering at the screen.

 **"Am I still human?" The thought mused in his head while he cleaned his helmet. Looking it over, every dent and scrape brought memories back. He was trying to forget about todays events, he did something incredibly stupid. He hurt his friend. He yelled at Ruby for something so stupid. The guilt was eating him and he would apologize soon, when things were more calmer. His snapped out of his thought when he turned it over to face him, he stopped cleaning and stared at the metal face mask fashioned into a skull. This was common for those that survived long enough in the Death Korps. He sighed and put it down, he walked over to his desk to grab some more cleaning spray but stopped when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He was wearing a greyish tank top with his usual pants, he looked at himself. From his neck length blonde hair to the various scars that adorned his body and face. He ran his finger over the scars on his face, some were small and barely visible while others were long and somewhat deep. It had only been 6 months since he vanished but to him, it was five years.**

"Wait, what?" asked Nora, confused. "I get this is a different universe but… why did he yell at Ruby if then he says it was something stupid, and how can six months turn into five years for anyone?"

"I don't care, I just want to punch his face in," grumbled Yang. "Nobody hurts Ruby."

"You idiot, you hear and see something like this and you focus on him yelling at Ruby? Besides, he obviously regrets what he did, so something must've happened to make him yell at her. Jaune would never yell at any of us." Weiss coldly berated her. "I don't know what the Death Korps are but they don't seem anything pleasant. His scars tell a scary story, especially since he should've had Aura, but the most worrisome detail is what he said. He doubted his own humanity… I may not be the most knowledgeable in the field of philosophy, but I'm pretty sure only a severe trauma can make you doubt something as basilar as that."

"Ms Schnee is right," agreed Ironwood. "From his eyes, the way he moves and especially the mention of these `Death Korps`, I believe your friend has been through a war, and a terrible one at that. There are only two reasons to doubt your humanity, and he obviously isn't one of them."

"What are those reasons?" asked Ruby, worried for her friend's health, both physical and psychological.

"One of them is needing prosthetics or cybernetics, aka machines implanted into your body either to keep you alive or just to allow you to live a normal life." He pulled off his right glove to show his robotic arm and hand. "But becoming a cyborg can be extremely taxing on the mind of the cybernetics' owner. That's why they are only implanted in emergencies, or with the full permission of the patient."

"And what about the other reason?" asked Ren.

"The other reason is seeing and causing too much death without being an assassin," sighed the man, and several people stiffened. "Causing death is easy for some, but for someone as young as your friend is, and to a kind-hearted soul, it has devastating effects on their psyche. To the point of leading them to consider suicide or, as in your friend's case, doubting your own humanity."

"And you think it's the second." Blake wanted to phrase it as a question, but it came out as a statement.

"I believe so, yes," nodded the man.

"But let's not forget that this Jaune Arc is not our own," interjected Ozpin. "Feeling for him is natural, but keep in mind that whatever you do, it won't change his future. Reign your emotions, students."

 **"I was a sacrifice, just like the others. To atone for a past sin that we didn't do." he mumbled, staring back at the metal skull face plate, previous battles flashed into his mind the more he stared.**

 **(Years Earlier in Imperial space)**

 **A massive gunship flew overhead as hundreds of soldiers ran across a battlefield, evading artillery and gunfire coming from a massive walled city. The battlefield was littered with bodies from both sides as a tank like vehicle exploded from being hit. A soldier fell out of it as fire engulfed his body, he screamed as he tried to put himself. Other soldiers ran past him, one shooting him with a weird rifle that fired a red beam at him, killing him. The soldier wore a gas mask like respirator that covered his entire face with a black helmet on top. His uniform consisted of heavy trench coat with metal chest armor and shoulder pauldrons. His heavy boots made it easy for him cross the blood drench battlefield as he tried his best not to trip over the hundreds of body of his fellow Kriegsman. What made him stand out was his black metal skull face mask, it made him appear menacing to the enemy soldiers.**

"Oh my…"

"That is what I was talking about," Ironwood stated grimly. "And this is just one battle. In five years, there are a lot of battles you can fight."

"Where is Jaune?" asked Pyrrha, anxiously trying to spot the blond in the carnage. She knew he had to have survive that battle, but she couldn't help but worry about his health.

 **"This is Valkyrie-14, I've s-sustained h-heavy damage. D-don't know if i can s-stay in the a-air…" a voice said over the radio. The soldier placed his finger near his ear and clicking sound was heard,**

 **"Titus! You need to get out of here!" pleaded the soldier to the pilot. He looked in the sky, ignoring the bullets and explosions as he watched smoke emit from the gunship. It was evading the anti-air flak while shooting at the enemy soldiers below, ripping them apart into chunks with its cannon.**

More than a student felt sick at the images of butchery, but others gasped as they recognized the soldier to be Jaune.

 **"Can't do that Arc...t-too much damage. W-won't make it back to base. Flak got me as well, b-bleeding out in here." the valkyrie took another hit as fire erupted from one its back engines. "A Kriegsman never retreats. You know this brother." he said between labored breaths. Jaune couldn't help but still plead but it fell on deaf ears. "To all my fellow Kriegsman, fight on for the God-Emperor! Fight on for Krieg!" he yelled into the Radio as the gunship flew low, all weapons firing at the fortified city gates. Jaune knew what he was doing and looked away in sadness**

"What is he…"

"A suicide charge, Ms Rose," Ozpin explained with a sigh. "He knows he's already a dead man. He can't get back, and he's getting shot down. He's taking as many enemies as he can with him."

"B-But that… that is…" Yang couldn't finish as Ironwood interrupted her.

"Yes, it is. But war is never pretty." His face was set in a dark scowl. "Humanity may have the Grimm as a common enemy, but they always find time to kill each other. As long as there will be at least two people close to each other, peace will never be attained. Sooner or later, they will wage war to each other."

"That's not true!" exclaimed Nora. "If I and Renny were to alone on Remnant we would never fight!"

"Fine. But with more people, it happens," relented the General.

 **"All Guardsmen that can hear me. Charge at the Enemy Gates! Don't allow Titus sacrifice be for not!" Jaune yelled into his radio as the other Death Korps charged with renewed vigor. The gunship kept firing, taking on more flak damage but still flying, straight into the gates. A massive explosion covered the large doors, killing most of the defenders. Once the smoke cleared, the gates were breached, a gone thanks to the explosion.**

 **"PUSH FORWARD! THE CITY GATES HAVE FALLEN!" yelled a voice over the radio as more Death Korps guardsmen ran to the breach, Jaune was one of the first to enter the city and witnessed the massacre of the civilians.**

To say that the students were shocked by the brutality and blood would've been an understatement.

"B-But… But I thought…" Ruby swallowed dryly. "I-I thought it was j-just a military base… w-why are they killing c-civilians? Isn't Jaune t-the good guy?"

"The world is never black and white, Ms Rose, no matter how much we can wish it that way," sighed Ozpin. "Murdering civilians is not the right way… but it could've been the only way."

Blake took a deep silent breath, remembering how Adam had justified all his violence. "Then it's better to lose than to win by becoming monsters," she stated.

"That's not so simple," countered Ironwood. "If you had to kill a hundred civilians to save a thousand of your people, would you do it? If you had to become a monster to save innocent people, would it still matter?"

"I…" Blake looked down. "I… I don't know."

 **(present; in JNPR's room)**

 **"Titus…" he solemnly thought as he cleaned the other parts to his Death Korps uniform. As he cleaned the chest armor, more memories of that battle flashed before him. He kept cleaning though, he didn't care if he remembered. It could be punishment for what he did earlier, along with whatever Yang does to him. He didn't care, he deserved it.**

 **(In the city within Imperial space)**

 **"Open fire! Kill these traitors!" Yelled his fellow guardsman as they stormed the hive city. Opening fire on the civilians that tried to run. Traitors. That's what they were told. Filthy traitors and heretics that have turned away from the God-Emperor's light and allied themselves with the filthy Xenos of the Tau Empire. He watched as the horrified people tried to run for safety, some trying to leave in ships, only to be shot down. His fellow Death Korps gunned them down with no hesitation or mercy. Some used their mono knives attached to the barrels of their rifles to stab some. Grenadiers, the same rank Jaune was, blew up homes and set fire to others with their flamethrowers. The light from the fire reflected off their respirator lenses and their metal skull face plates, giving them a much more grim appearance. The Death Korps of Krieg were earning their name this day.**

Ruby was forced to turn by Yang, but she had already seen the carnage. No one felt fine, and a few were feeling sick. Traitors or not, killing civilians like that was something only a monster would do.

 **Pleas for forgiveness were answered with the sounds of Lasguns. "In death, atonement." Death was the only way to be forgiven. He stood there, his lasgun aimed at a small group of people, crying as they held each other. A family he had cornered. He was shaking a bit as he held his weapon at them. His breathing heavy as he gulped.**

 **"Please! You don't have to do this!" Yelled an Elderly man, stepping in front of the group. "Take me instead but let my family go! They will be loyal to the imperium, I was the one who betrayed it!" He pleaded, Jaune stared at him and the others. Could he kill them, have them also pay for the sin another committed? He was slowly lowering his weapon when a voice came from behind him.**

"S-So he isn't the bad guy?" Ruby asked, her voice trembling. "H-He wants to s-spare them…"

"We cannot be sure of Mr Arc's intention," said Ironwood. "But yes, I think so as well."

 **"Arc! What are you doing? kill these traitors!" Yelled his Watchmaster as he stepped forward. Five more Kriegsmen walked behind him, rifles raised as the slaughter was still being carried out around them.**

 **"Sir. This old man is saying that he was the traitor, not his family." He said, looking at the old man then to his Watchmaster. "Sir, they don't need to pay for the sins of another." Jaune pleaded, if the Watchmaster could see under his respirator, he would see Jaune's eyes filled with hope. Hope that he would listen allow these people to live. The family watched on with horror as the Watchmaster quickly raised his laspistol and shot the old man in the head.**

A few students gasped at the sudden death, but both adults were still. They had expected it.

 **"You are Krieg Guardsman," he looked back at Jaune while one of the people knelt down to the body. "Loyal only to the God-Emperor and his imperium! You, like the rest of us, must atone for the past sins our planet has done. These people must pay for they have done!" he said, looking at them then back at Jaune. He stood stoic as his Watchmaster yelled at him, though under that respirator was a terrified boy. He was trained to fight the enemies of man, but unarmed civilians? People who were most likely innocent? No he couldn't bring himself to do it. He wouldn't! He knows the penalty for disobeying orders but he would rather die than do this.**

"Is he going to spare them?" asked Nora, eyes full of hope.

"He might, but they will be killed by the other Death Korps," replied Ironwood. "Apparently, he survived, so they won't kill him for insubordination."

 **"I refuse to kill them." he said, placing his rifle to his side as he closed his eyes, waiting for his death. But instead, the Watchmaster looked at him.**

 **"What the High Lords want with you is beyond me. But i can't kill you despite wanting to, so let's do this." he said as he signaled the other Krieg guardsmen to aim their weapons at the family, ensuring they couldn't escape. A gunship flew in the sky, dropping bombs near by as more screams filled the air. "Jaune Arc, War is all you know," he said as Jaune looked at him confused. A began to feel a headache coming on as the watchmaster spoke. "You are a soldier of Krieg. A soldier of the Imperium. A sacrifice for the sins of Krieg." he continue as the headache worsened and Jaune fell to his knees. He clutched his the sides of his head in pain as he threw off his helmet. His respirator keeping his gloves from making contact with his flesh.**

"What's happening?" asked Pyrrha, gazing at the screen with worry.

"If I had to guess, torture." Several heads turned to the General, the expert in the field. "Since they can't kill him, they're punishing him in another way."

 **"Agh whats g-going o-on?!" he demanded as the pain got worse.**

 **"In life, war. For that is all you will know. In death, peace. For that is only when duty ends. In life, shame. For you carry the sins of Krieg's past. In death, atonement. For only then can you be forgiven and only then can Krieg be forgiven. That is the duty of The Death Korps of Krieg! Your duty!" he yelled as the pain suddenly stopped and Jaune stood up at attention.**

 **"Grenadier Jaune Alexandros Arc." his voice stern and devoid of any emotion. "I'm ready to fulfill my duty as a Death Korps of Krieg sir." he said as the Watchmaster looked to his men and waved them away. They stood back.**

"W-What…" Weiss could barely stutter out a word before Ozpin explained tensely.

"Some sort of mind control," he stated, clearly angry. "Since they can't kill him, they are forcing him to obey."

"So, he is really going to…"

"I fear so, Ms Valkyrie."

 **"Arc, I order you to execute these traitors. They have betrayed the holy God of mankind and joined a heretical Xenos empire." he told the soldier before him.**

 **"Of course Sir." he said as he stepped forward and raised his lasgun. "No wait whats going on?!" he internally screamed as he aimed at the family, who were begging to be spared. "Why can't I stop? Please!" he thought. "In Death, atonement." he told them**

"Body control, not mind control," Ozpin corrected himself, his tone even grimmer. "He can clearly see what he's doing and think of his own will, but his body will only respond to his `Watchmaster`'s orders."

"That's…" Yang couldn't even find the words.

"That's the most horrible of tortures," stated Ren, eyes narrowed. "Forced to become a murderer."

"Is that why Jaune looked so horrible at the start?" asked Blake.

"There might be more to it," replied Ironwood. "But I think this played a large part in his problem."

 **"PLE-" one begged but was cut short as Jaune opened fire. Under his respirator was a face devoid of all emotions as he fired at the family, but tears slowly began to build up and stream down his face as he finished firing. The family laid dead, smoke emitting from their seared wounds as Jaune lowered his rifle. The last thing they saw was that skull face plate as they were mercilessly gunned down.**

 **"What are my orders now Sir?" he asked as the Watchmaster looked at him.**

 **"You are to join the others and ensure not a single soul is left alive in this city! Shoot them, Stab them, Burn them! Do what must done to ensure the enemies of man are gone." he ordered as Jaune saluted and made his way past them. His weapon drawn as he aimed at a running woman. For three days, he followed his orders without question. His expression never changing under his respirator as he spilled more blood. If anyone could see under that respirator, they would see a face devoid of emotion but his eyes bloodshot as his eyes had run out of tears to spill. Jaune completed his mission, but not of his own free will.**

"Run out of tears…" repeated Ironwood, a bitter grimace stretching his lips down. "Something I don't want to live ever again." A few looked at him strangely, to which he replied with a humourless laugh. "I'm not made of steel. I've cried more tears than all of you students put together, all of them in war. War takes its toll in tears, blood and haunting memories."

 **(Present; JNPR's Room)**

 **"No. Not anymore." he told himself as he continued cleaning the rest of his armor. His Death Korps uniform laid out on his bed, the burn and bullet holes present on the fabric of the trench coat. The flak armor laid out neatly next to it. He continued to inspect every piece, looking at every scratch and dent, continuing to remember what caused all of them. He was still trying to get his mind off from earlier. Before he could continue on, his door flung open.**

 **"Arc!" Came an angry voice. He didn't bother looking up, while surprised a bit on who it was, he still didn't want to face her. "Look at me!" She demanded, the anger in her voice rising. He sighed, placing the skull helm respirator down as he looked at her. Weiss was standing in his doorway, an angry scowl on her face as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Would you mind explaining your actions earlier?" Crossing her arms. "Your outburst at Ruby was uncalled for."**

"Why do I have the feeling this won't end well?" asked Yang.

"Because it's true. This can only end tragically," explained the General. "Ms Schnee has no idea what he's been through, or she would've left him alone. And if she can't understand him, then she is bound to say something that will make him yell at her too, and shut himself off even further."

"I hope that won't happen, only if he talks with us he'll lighten his burden," stated Ren.

"That's not so easy," sighed Ozpin. "Sometimes, you don't want to lighten your burden, because you feel like you deserve to carry it, and because you feel that lightening it would dishonour the memories of who's fallen by your side."

 **"I know. I will apologize for it and make things right. I shouldn't have yelled at her." He answered, looking at her in the eye, hoping she would be satisfied and leave. But that didn't happen. No she pressed the issue.**

 **"That still doesn't explain why. I wasn't present as to what caused it but I saw the pain on her face. I'm sure Yang would have beaten you if not for Ruby intervening on your behalf." She said, still staring at him with that scowl. It was annoying him at this point.**

 **"It doesn't matter. What's done is done. Now please leave me alone." He requested, looking at her. Weiss didn't move but got more annoyed at the lack of an answer. Yes Jaune did go through something bad in the 6 months he was missing. Found in Emerald forest in that strange armor and covered in scars raised many questions. But he didn't provide much answers. He just said he went somewhere and had to fight, that was all he gave them. Weiss wanted to know more, where was he? What did he do? What caused him to he injured like so? But also why did he blow up at Ruby? Jaune wasn't the kind of person to lose his temper. Infact, before he disappeared, he was patient and happy. Always had a smile on his face and was there for his friends. Never once had she seen him angry at any of them, not even her when she turned him down everytime he asked her out. But now? He was different. Closed off and quiet. He kept to himself and tried to lead his team as best as he could. He didn't smile much anymore nor did he call her that ridiculous name. She needed to know what happened, maybe it will prevent future outbursts.**

"This is where she makes a faux pas," claimed Nora, looking unusually serious. "He's about to lose his temper again, but knowing Weiss she'll want answers, and she'll press the issue until she'll get them… or she'll actually realize what he's been through."

"I just hope we will be able to help him," murmured Ruby.

"After so much death, if he shuts himself off, he'll never be able to live again," noted Pyrrha. "He needs us…"

"But maybe he doesn't want to live again," whispered Blake, so quietly no one heard her.

 **"No I will not. You need to understand that such outbursts can have a negative effects on the receiver. Ruby was heartbroken!" She stated. Looking at him, she saw he was hurt that he hurt the young reaper. She looked away from him."Look, i understand you went through something bad. You have this weight on your shoulders, I can see that. But that does-"**

 **"Shut up." He told her. She was surprised by this. There was anger in that response. When she looked at him, she was taken aback by the clear angry expression on his face.**

"And she did it," remarked the General. "Now it's just a matter of time before they address the elephant in the room. He's no more the Jaune Arc they knew, he's changed so much he's unrecognisable, but Ms Schnee seems not to care about that."

"I… I was just defending Ruby, for once," she meekly defended herself. "I… How could I have known?"

"You could've listened when he told you to go away," replied Blake. "But now it's too late to take that back. In your defence, probably no one of us would've been able to speak with him about that without him blowing up."

 **"E-excuse me?!" She responded, she was livid at this point. Yes she was angry when she came in here but that's because he had yelled at her partner, his friend and she wasn't gonna stand for it. "How dare you Ar-"**

 **"I said shut up!" He stepped forward and stepped back. She'd never seen him like this. It was starting to scare her but she wouldn't back down. "You understand? Is that what you think?" He asked her. "That you can relate to what I experienced and did? That you can understand the blood that's on my hands?" That last response startled her. Blood? Did he- but she wasn't able to finish that thought when he threw some of his flak armor on the ground. The heavy metal hitting the wooden floor was loud.**

 **"You need to calm down Arc!" She demanded, she stepped forward a bit as they stared each other down. "Don't let this go to your head, I understand you have a lot on your mind. Believe when I say I can relate. Sometimes the pressure of being the Heiress to my family's company eats at me but I don't let it get like this. You can't le-"**

"And that is the nail on the coffin." Everyone turned to Ozpin, who was grimacing openly. "He probably didn't tell you about the Death Korps to keep you in the blissful ignorance, but after everything he's been through, comparing it to the responsibilities of being a Huntsman will just enrage him. Not only it insults him, but it also belittles all the people who've died in those wars."

Weiss sagged further as Yang put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Blake's right, you couldn't have known. Besides, if he never told us, we only had his scars and armour to base our guesses on."

"It doesn't make it any less hurtful to watch," was the heiress's meek reply.

 **"You have no idea! You can't possibly relate to what I've been through!"**

 **"Then enlighten me Jaune, instead of being childish and lashing out at your friends who simply want to help." Her anger was seething at this point. She clenched her fists a bit as she looked at him, waiting for answer.**

 **"Do you know what it's like to watch your friends die Weiss? Do you understand the feeling of walking into a home after a battle and see the remains of a family you were unable to save?" He said bluntly. She was caught completely off guard by his response. The anger on her face was fading, replaced by shock.**

"Is he…"

"No, Ms Nikos, I don't think he's talking about that particular battle," said the General. "He said he fought for five years. That was just one battle. It might've happened anywhere."

"But why?" Everyone turned to Ruby, who was shaking in her seat. "I-I mean, Jaune is the kindest person I've ever met, w-what did he do to d-deserve such pain?"

"The world is never fair. The best people are the ones who suffer most." Ozpin's voice sounded empty and pained. "In a way, the saying `the strong lives, the weak dies` is true. This is an unforgiving world, Ms Rose, that will take advantage of your naivety to strike you in the most painful possible way."

Ruby lowered her head to hide the tears that had been building up since the first images of carnage had been shown. But when she spoke again, her voice was firm and determined. "Then we'll make it better."

 **"W-what?" Was her only response.**

 **"Or how about the feeling of helplessness as I walked miles with the body of a boy in my arms to the nearest stronghold because you were presumed dead and left behind? He was a new recruit in the Death Korps and I promised him he would be alright. But when I get to the doors of that base you know what I realized?" He looked at her, anger still present on his face as she was starting to tremble.**

 **"I-i-"**

 **"He was dead Weiss. He died hours before I reached the base and I didnt even know it. Maybe I did but didn't want to face that reality." She was quiet. She was a loss for words. If what he was saying was true, then Jaune went through something worse than they thought.**

Ironwood had to look away for a moment as memories of a similar event replayed in his mind. His right hand curled into a tight fist, but he couldn't fight off the flashbacks of snowy landscapes and utter despair. Those events had forever scarred his soul, and nothing could change that.

 **"I promised my squad mate, my friend and brother! That I would bring him home to his family. I cradled him as he died and I was forced to abandon his body." His hands shook. He turned around and picked up the skull helm respirator, looking it over. "After the battle, I tried to find his body. But there were so many bodies. As far as they eye can see." He said turning around looking at her. Helmet still in hand. "I never found him. I never kept my promise." There was no anger now. Only pain. He stepped forward as she stepped back. "For Gods sake Weiss, I slaughtered a Family! I killed so many innocent people and I couldn't stop myself!" continued**

Pyrrha brought her hands to cover her mouth, horrified. She knew perfectly well just how much Jaune valued his promises, from the most honourable to the silliest of them all. Breaking one so important must've broken his heart in two… or at least what remained of his already broken heart. She choked back a sob as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. In that universe, Jaune had gone through something none of them wished to ever experience.

 **"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know. You never told us what happened to you." She was trembling, visibly disturbed by this information.**

 **"No. You didn't. That's my fault but I wanted to spare you all the horrors I saw. The monsters that dwell out there make the grimm look like fucken insects. I've watched guardsmen ripped apart. Eaten. Burned alive. Every painful death imaginable, I've seen it Weiss." By this time she was against the wall outside team JNPR's room. She was trying to be calm but was starting to feel sick as to what he said.**

"He is and forever will be scarred," stated Ozpin, his voice dead and emotionless as he stared at the hurting boy on the screen. "Nothing will ever change that… just like there won't ever be atonement."

"But he…"

"No, Ms Xiao Long. I said atonement, not acceptance. With time and with constant support and help, he might get over it, but atonement?" He sadly shook his head. "After so much death, even if not caused directly by him, nothing will ever atone for what he's done. Mind controlled or not."

"What does it mean for us?" asked Weiss.

"It might actually make you all become closer to him," noted Ironwood. "But that closeness would come at a high price. A price in hurt, tears, and pain."

 **"Jaune i-"**

 **"You wanted to know why I blew up at Ruby? She saw the names on my armor. The names of my old squad." He explained, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "She asked about them. I told her I missed them and she said that they are probably alright and maybe I'll see them again." He choked a bit. "I said it wasn't possible. She asked why and I told her I just knew. But she kept insisting I would. That's when I blew up. I told her I would never see them again. I shouldn't have yelled at her but how do I explain that I watched them be brutally slaughtered by monsters?" Tears ran down his face as Weiss was starting to develop tears. She saw his pain. He wasn't lying. No he watched them all die right before his eyes. "When I close my eyes, I can hear them calling out for help. Reaching for me and I reach for them, but I couldn't help them." He handed the helmet to her and turned his back towards her, walking to his door. "I regret for what I did to Ruby. She didn't deserve that. I'm sorry I yelled at you as well but I will not listen to someone who thinks they can relate and understand the pain and guilt I went through. Now, please Ms. Schnee. Leave me alone." He finished, walking into his room and slamming the door. Faint crying could be heard on the other side. Weiss. She was speechless. She had no words and retort to what he said. If she had words of comfort, well it was too late late now. If she did earlier, his constant interruption were keeping her from voicing it. He didn't want to hear her. She looked down at the helmet and cried. Tears falling down onto the metal skull face plate as she slid down the wall into a crouch. She saw the bullet holes and the small amount of dried blood. The dents and scratches. Parts that were patched closed or welded shut from battle after battle. His words lingered in her head. The Jaune Arc they all knew and considered a friend was gone. That happy, annoying but sweet boy was gone. Replaced by the broken shell that they found.**

Everyone had reeled back during Jaune's explanation, but no one had looked away from the screen. No, they owed him at least that. Even if it was painful to watch, they watched until the screen turned black, traces of tears on every student's face.

"War leaves scar so deep they will mark you forever," repeated Ironwood. "Mark my words, because you might soon find out yourselves just how unfair the world can be."

"B-But… why?" Ruby dried her tears with the sleeve of her corset, but new ones formed again. "I mean… you said that the world's unfair… But that battle was _not_ in Remnant. He went s-somewhere else to fight it… he was _taken_ somewhere else to fight it. To f-fight for his `Krieg`… why him? W-Why wasn't someone else t-taken?"

"I fear we might never receive the answer to that question, Ms… Ruby." Ozpin looked around to see that a doorframe with no door had appeared on the side of the room, showing what appeared to be a living room with bookshelves and a kitchenette beyond the doorstep. There was a small note explaining how they could rest there until the next viewing, signed `K.` and affixed to the wall near the door. "But I suggest we take a little while to think about what we've seen and to clear our heads. Something tells me this won't be the only viewing we will be subjected to, so let's at least rest a little now."

"I don't think I'll be able to rest," muttered Pyrrha.

"You and me alike," agreed Yang. "You and me alike…"

Ironwood looked at them walk away before sighing. Memories continued to flash behind his closed eyes, each of them bringing pain and hurt to the General. He looked up as he felt a hand fall on his shoulder, and met Ozpin's gaze.

The two scarred men stood in silence, wordlessly supporting each other in the now empty room.

 ** _I hope you liked this chapter. I surely did. And my little brother surely did like trying to "write" something himself while I was working on this. -_-_**

 ** _Anyway, go and check out the original story, The Sins of the Past by azuring-galaxy. You don't need much Warhammer 40k knowledge to enjoy it, so... what are you doing still here? Go!_**

 ** _Until next time,_**

 ** _Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Hey guys! Daily update, isn't it? Not on DarkerShade but this. Since this is a commission, it has priority over the others stories, but don't worry: I am currently writing Trail of Blood, and I will start A Darker Shade of Gold's next chapter soon._**

 ** _So, now that I'm done with facts about me, let me repeat this: this is a commission for azuring-galaxy, a reaction to his story The Sins of the Past, a RWBY + Warhammer 40k crossover with nice originality. If you like this story, keep an eye out for when he updates his own, okay?_**

 ** _No more AN, onto the chapter!_**

It didn't take them long to return to the Watching Hall. Be it in curiosity and worry for Jaune, or be it just their natural knack for dealing with hurt, all the students were back within fifteen minutes. Ruby still looked shaken, and Weiss's eyes were still red from crying. The calmest ones were Blake and Ren, for different reasons. Despite having grown up as someone akin to a princess in Menagerie, Blake's time in the White Fang had her seeing more than a comrade die, be it by the hands of the Grimm or of the humans. Ren, instead, had mastered his emotions with training, and thus he had become adept at calming himself down when he needed to.

The seven students found the room exactly like they had left it. Ozpin and Ironwood had returned to sit on their respective couches after their short support moment, but both held sadness in their eyes. Not just for what they had just relived in flashbacks, but because they were worried about their students.

Seeing their friends broken and hurting was going to leave marks on them. Severe marks.

"Are we all ready?" Ironwood asked.

"I… I guess we are as ready as we'll ever be," Pyrrha replied meekly. "We don't like what we are being forced to watch, but there is no way out of this. We don't have our weapons, and even Yang couldn't damage the walls, not even after charging up her Semblance."

"And without Magnhild, there's a limit to what Nora can break," added Ren. "We even tried destroying the fridge and oven to follow the wires, but they seem unbreakable and unmovable as well. We are trapped here."

"If whatever or whoever brought us here had the power to do so, I am not surprised they can also contain us effortlessly," commented Ozpin. "I am unsure as to how this screen works, but last time it had to activated by the owner of that voice…"

"Who, for your information, is still here," the voice piped up suddenly. Being trained fighters, no one of them was actually taken off-guard, but it still surprised them. "I won't intervene very often as I'm a busy entity, so I'm just gonna tell you the basics and shut up. As you have seen, there is a small kitchenette in the room adjacent to this one. You might be allowed to explore a couple of other rooms, but not immediately, like the library. The universe you are going to watch will have a great emotive impact on you all, so I suggest you to take a short break after every viewing."

"We were gonna do it nonetheless," grumbled Yang. "But-"

"Moving on, don't worry about running out of food as it's restocked often. I suggest you to cook whenever you can, I find it pretty calming and you might need to calm down after viewing this universe." Ruby wasn't the only one to scowl at the last sentence. Being used to it, like in Ironwood's and Ozpin's cases, didn't mean being immune to heartache. And the other students hadn't really fared better than the Rose, they had just handled it a little better. "And finally, the screen. It's a magical screen, of course, and it doesn't need any true activation except for the initial start-up. Do not worry about it beginning to view while you're not ready, it's enhanced so to activate only _after_ you are ready again. This includes any conversation, action or just rest you might want to entertain yourself with. I'm sorry for this bothersome explanation, but I thought you could use the information."

"Why force us to watch this?" Weiss asked. "I… Is it some sort of punishment for how I treated Jaune?"

"Ice Queen, I do not have the time nor wish to punish all the people in the Multiverse who do wrong. Only some of them, sometimes. I was asked to do this by a colleague of mine, but to be honest, I think you could use the experience as well." The entity cleared their throat as protests began to flare up. "Please, I currently don't have the time to explain. Plus, it'd be better if you asked Ozpin or Ironwood about it. They are people you know, or know of, and they are from Remnant like you. They already know the answer. And with this, I bid you good bye."

"Wait, where are you going?!" Weiss exclaimed, vainly looking around for the entity. "Argh, why are we locked here?!"

"I think exactly to prevent you from breaking out and start making damage left and right," Ren remarked dryly. Then he turned to the two adults. "General Ironwood, Professor Ozpin, whoever this Khor is, they said you might know the answer. Is it true? You know why we have been brought here?"

"Not any more than you do, but that isn't the question he was referring to," Ironwood explained gravely, looking at the screen. "The question was how could this help you students. How could watching this universe be useful to you. And sadly, we do know the answer."

Yang's eyes turned red. "How? It's useful if for useful you mean that it makes us angry, sad and hurt! How are we supposed to view seeing our friend suffer 'useful'?!" she yelled, so very wishing for something or someone to punch. "Jaune might not be my best friend nor the best friend I could've asked for, but he _is_ a friend! And I'm not gonna call seeing him so devastated 'useful'!"

"Ms Xiao Long, please calm down. Your anger is just saddening your sister, and getting angry won't change the situation," Ozpin interjected quietly. "Allow us to explain. Then you will be allowed to let your emotions win over your mind, but not a second sooner. I have no wish to have to repeat this twice."

"Neither do I," agreed Ironwood. "And this is why I'm gonna tell you plain and simple: pain brings strength. A different kind of strength but strength nonetheless. I am not saying you should _enjoy_ seeing Mr Arc suffer, quite the opposite: I would worry about your mental health if you were to enjoy seeing someone else, especially a close one, hurting."

"You know how training works? Every time you train, your muscles are damaged and repaired. Think of this as training of the soul. Your soul will be hurt, and it would eventually heal, stronger than before." He sighed at their disbelieving expressions. "As wrong as this may sound, seeing the darkness is one of the best ways to live in the light. If you don't know what you are fighting against, how can you fight? If you choose to fight so that 'our' Jaune Arc won't have to go through something that, so that _no one_ will, then you must see what 'that' is. You can't hit a Grimm you don't even know is there."

"And living through trauma is a great teacher," Ironwood added. "You will come out of this wiser, more mature, and harsher. Being harsh is not a flaw, as long as you know when to 'soften up'. Being harsh can save your life out in the field."

"So you're saying that we should take this not as a punishment or torture, but instead as a chance to improve ourselves?" asked Pyrrha. "But what about Jaune? He…"

"'Our' Jaune Arc is unharmed, if this 'Khor' is to be believed. As such, do not worry about him," replied Ozpin. "As for this Jaune Arc we are seeing… we can do nothing. You can mourn and be sad for him, but you cannot change his past, nor present, nor future."

"Well said," echoed Ironwood.

It was a lot of take in, but they weren't Beacon's students for nothing. They only needed ten or so minutes before they all agreed on the topic. It was a slow process, and each one of them took longer than the one before, with Ruby being the longest, but eventually they had all accepted it. They were locked in a room with no means to escape: learned what they could was the only reasonable thing they could do.

Then the screen started up.

 **He awoke to his hands bound behind his back and arms wrapped around his bound ones. He looked up and saw that his Watchmaster walked in front of him as two guardsmen dragged him along, to where he didn't know and he didn't care. The memories of what he did those past three days came back to him as he slipped in and out of consciousness, the faces of the people he killed and what he did to them. He almost wanted to vomit but it would just sit within his respirator, he doubt he would be allowed to clean it if that did happen.**

 **"Sir, he is regaining consciousness." A guardsmen stated as they walked past holding cells, some had civilians from the planet while others had Tau, humanoid like Xenos from an Empire that they have been steadily advancing across their sector of the Galaxy. Its Bluish-grey skin was covered in dark spots, most likely bruises from the torture the others inflicted. It watched him with its red round eyes, never taking its eyes off him as it grabbed onto the bars with its four fingered hands. Its face was flat and round around the eyes, an 'I" shaped slit took the place where a nose would usually be. Most likely to be taken away to the Inquisition just like the other survivors, their fates were sealed. They would experience something far worse than death.**

"So there are aliens, and those 'Death Korps' condemn them as well?" Ruby asked.

"I appears so, Ms Rose," nodded Ironwood. "Yet more proof that this is not Remnant. I am afraid we do _not_ have such creatures in our universe. I may be wrong, of course, but as far as we know Remnant is the only inhabited planet in our universe."

"Have we explored the others?" asked Blake.

"Unfortunately not," Ozpin sighed heavily. "Satellites have been sent in the atmosphere and past it but with our war with the Grimm still ongoing, we can't afford to spend millions on astral science. We barely hold five percent of our planet as it is."

"So aliens _could_ exist?" asked Ruby.

"In the same way fairies and the gold pot at the end of the rainbow, Ms Rose," The General sipped his corrected coffee. "No one believes them, and no one has ever confirmed them. But at the same time, no one has ever found proof they _don't_ exist."

"So…"

"We can't be sure, Ms Rose," sighed the man. "But common sense dictates that no, fairies and gold pots as well as aliens do not exist. Not in our world, at least. We cannot be _sure_ of fairies but the rainbow is just the reflection of light on the droplets of water suspended in the air. If you get close, it either disappears or moves away. How can you reach something like that?"

"By going super-fast?" offered the small redhead, providing an example as she used her Semblance to zip across the room. "No?"

 **"Good." he didn't look back nor stopped his walk until they reached the end of the hall. "Throw him in here, he'll stay here until we get to the next battle." the Watchmaster stated as the two Kriegsmen threw Jaune into the cell, not caring that he fell face first into the edge of the "bed", causing his lenses to crack. He was too weak to get up or fight off the pain, but his aura was slowly making work of the damage, though he knew a scar would be left. His aura was extremely weak since he came here, taking longer to heal and sometimes not fully healing him.**

 **His breathing grew heavy as the Watchmaster stared at him, anger rising as he looked at the disgraceful state he was in. "Pathetic." he spat before walking away with his fellow guardsmen in tow. "What a pathetic excuse for a Kriegsman." Jaune heard as he walked away, a loud bang coming from the end of the hall. Most likely the heavy metal door being closed.**

"Can I break his legs?" asked Nora, a scowl on her face.

"Unfortunately he is not within our reach," Ren replied tensely. "Because this would've been the one time I would've allowed you to do it."

"Remember, students, keep your emotions in check," Ozpin -needlessly- reminded them. "Feeling the pain is natural, but allowing it to take over is useless. We cannot reach that dimension and we are powerless to stop anything going on there. Despairing is just going to break your spirits."

 **"I'm sorry…" he cried as tiny tears ran down his face, he was able to cry but just barely. He reached into one of his front satchels and pulled out a folded picture. As he did, his room shook violently as an explosion could be heard from outside. He knew they weren't under attack, no this War had been won in the Imperium's favor. He was sure an Ecclesiarchy priest was giving prayer to those that survived and those that fell. He finally unfolded the picture to reveal his redheaded partner and a much more joyful version of him. A picture they had taken from their first day of training, he was ecstatic and wanted to commemorate this day, so they took a picture together, arms wrapped around each others necks as they smiled.**

 **"** _ **I promise I won't let you down Pyrrha! I'll do my best to become stronger and a good leader to you all!"**_

 **"** _ **I know you will Jaune, I can't wait for that day. Now let's get back to it."**_

 **"I'm so sorry Pyrrha...I let you down." his voiced cracked as he found the strength to get to his feet. "I'm a monster. I've let you and the others down. Gods, Ruby would be terrified of me." he cried more as the memories of his team and sister team popped in his head. Their horrified and disgusted expressions if they saw what he has become. He slowly got up and reached the small window to the outside world as he was bombarded by images of all of his friends faces and what they would tell him.**

Ruby's and Pyrrha's eyes started to tear up again, but this time Ren reached out and infused them both with his Semblance. It wouldn't erase their emotions but it would allow them to be handled more easily. The two redheads were very emotive, and having to see themselves hating who could easily be considered their best friend would've probably had a terrible effect on their minds.

He just hoped Ozpin and Ironwood were right, and they weren't burning their souls to watch this universe.

 **"** _ **Monster!"**_ **He heard Ren's voice as he slowly made his way the window.**

 **"** _ **Murderer!"**_ **Ruby's was next,his heart breaking more as he fell to his knees.**

 **"I'm sorry. Please!" he begged as he heard more of their voices.**

 **"** _ **You're no hero! You're a vile creature!"**_ **Weiss yelled at him, an image of her appearing before him, slowly disappearing.**

 **"** _ **Stay away from us! All you do is cause pain!"**_ **He saw Yang next, Blake next to her with a disgusted scowl.**

 **"No! I didn't want to do it!" he pleaded as he cried more, his respirator hiding his face but his voice betrayed him. It cracked from the sadness and the fact his throat was starting to get dry and sore. Then he saw his team; Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. All looked at him with anger and utter hatred. They turned their backs on him as each slowly disappeared, except Pyrrha. She turned around and looked at him. But before he could say anything she raised her hand.**

 **"** _ **You're nothing but a monster Jaune. A waste of a human. You'll never be like us, a protector, because all you've done is cause death to the innocent. You're just a monster!"**_ **She yelled before disappearing. He cried, wailing as he slammed his fists into the metal floor as the cell shook again. He didn't care because all his friends just left him and called him a monster.**

But even Ren's Semblance held a limit, both to how powerful it could be and how long it could last. Ruby curled up into a ball and began to sob uncontrollably, while Weiss tried in vain to hold her tears. Blake was the one least affected, but he could clearly see it was just a facade. And Yang, the ever-strong Yang, was hugging her knees as tears ran down her cheeks, loud in happiness and sad in sorrow. It fit her.

His own team wasn't faring any better. While people would've probably expected Nora to exaggerate as usual, people would've been wrong. She was just sitting still, no tears in her eyes, frozen as she just accepted more hurt in her already burdened heart. It was all he could do to put an arm around her and hug her. Pyrrha herself wasn't faring any better than Team RWBY, hugging herself as she rocked on her couch.

Ozpin and Ironwood took it the best. They were both war veterans, after all. Nonetheless, they still felt the pain for Jaune's undeserved anguish.

 **"I'm sorry! Gods I'm sorry!" he pleaded. But his pleas fell on no one as the cell shook again. He found the strength again to get up and make it to the window, looking out reveal he was back on Death Korps battleship,** _ **The Emperor's Judgement**_ **, as it floated above the planet they were just on. He watched as other battleships and cruisers fired their massive cannons down to the world below just as the one he was in did before. He looked at the planet, it was once green with massive hive cities that could be seen from orbit but now? It was unrecognizable. The Green flora was nothing but ash as giant fires spread across the planet from the battles that waged below. The once sprawling hive cities were nothing but ruins of death and decay as the Battleships bombarded them from orbit. This world had 18 billion souls dwelling on it.**

 **Now? It would be lucky if only a few million were left after what the Death Korps have done in the name of The God-Emperor. How many were actually innocent but died thanks to the sin of a few? Billions? He didn't know but he didn't want to know it either. He watched as a massive explosion could be seen from his cell on the planet's surface, a hive city was finally destroyed. Millions, possibly a billion, lost in the blink of an eye. How many were his fellow guardsmen though? He doubt anyone cared. They were just sacrifices anyway, conditioned to march towards death without any hesitation. To gladly give their lives for the Emperor and Krieg. He walked away and lied down on the metal slab that was supposedly a bed. He looked at the picture one last time, his heart ached before he put it away. Part of him wanted to believe that they would still be by his side, even if they learned what he did. This picture gave some strength to keep going but for how long? How long before he decided to end it all. "Prepare for War Jump!" an electronic voice stated over the intercom. Its snapped from his thoughts as metal shutters closed on the window, leaving him in darkness.**

"I never thought I would see a war taking the lives of an entire planet," noted Ironwood. "We do not have the necessary technology to withstand such warfare. If we had, we would've probably been able to wipe out the Grimm without problems. Remnant would be fully ours instead of being a fractured world in conflict with itself."

"Are you seriously focusing on the military details?" hissed Yang.

"Ms Xiao Long, I consider military details to be a much more pleasant thought than the genocide of an entire planet's worth of lives. Diverting your mind from the horrors of war is one of the only ways to psychologically survive it," he replied stiffly. "And since we are going to have to watch this for Oum only knows how long, I suggest you all enter the mindset to stop focusing on what's causing you pain. Such mindset could save you from war-brought insanity."

"As future Hunters of Remnant, you all should beware of the horrors our world houses," continued Ozpin. "You might be children, but you won't be able to live as such forever. At your age, seventeen in most cases with Ms Rose's exception, you have the potential to think like an adult. And an adult Hunter finds tricks to deal with trauma."

"Like drinking…" said Yang, remembering her uncle Qrow and how much he drank. She had never really thought about it, but drinking _was_ indeed a bad idea for someone who theoretically should've fought soulless monsters all day long. Hunters needed to have a clear mind while fighting, except…

Except if having a clear mind were to be more dangerous than being totally drunk.

"Many use alcohol, yes," nodded Ozpin. "Others use different mindsets, like James suggested just a few seconds ago. It is up to you to choose how you'll handle it, but I suggest you to find a way to stand it, or it'll crush you mercilessly."

 **-JNPR's Room-**

 **Jaune had cleaned up his armor he'd thrown to the floor earlier, he didn't bother opening the door to grab his helmet. He knew Weiss probably still had. Why he gave it to her, he didn't have that answer. Maybe in hopes that when saw it, it would give her some clue as to what he went through? Maybe she'd see that horror he saw whenever he looked at it? He didn't know. Maybe he just didn't want to see that skull staring at him. Reminding him of what he is. That he's no longer human. " A monster." he quietly said to himself as he began to work on the respirator. Fidgeting with its tubes and looking at the High Gothic that was etched into it, he didn't know what it said but his comrades said it was the tongue of the Emperor. The words said a prayer but they didn't know what it was. He ensured it was cleaned thoroughly, drilled into his head during training to always keep those words from getting any filth on them. He saw that it wasn't coming off so he kept scrubbing it but to no avail, he kept going as he grew frustrated. Too concentrated as to what he was doing that he didn't hear the door open, or see his team walk in. No, this dried green blood wouldn't come off! It was staying on, staining those words that so many died for! That his squad died for!**

 **"Jaune?" Nora was the first to speak to her leader and friend. But ignored them, too focused on getting whatever that was off. He scrubbed harder, tearing the cloth as he did.**

 **"Jaune stop!" Yell Pyrrha when she noticed red was being smeared on the words. Blood. His blood. He was too focused on getting it off that he didn't notice his fingers were starting to bleed from the excessive scrubbing. His skin and nails were being torn, his aura barely keeping up with it.**

"What is he doing?!" Yang shouted in worry and fright at seeing the boy heedlessly hurting himself just to clean off some blood. The others weren't far behind, and Ruby had hidden her face back against her legs not to see her best friend hurting himself in such a brutal way.

"Obsession," was all Ironwood had to say to silence everyone. "He lived and fought with his squad for five years, he said. For five years they were all he had. And he lost them, he lost them _all_. They were all killed, presumably. Those words are all he has left of everyone who died in the war… he is obsessed with keeping it clean, and he is reacting accordingly."

"But… why?" asked Nora.

"Who knows? We have little knowledge of how the human mind works, much less when it's under pressure of trauma," replied the man. "It could be anything, or it could be nothing. It could even just be that he himself has gone insane during the war and his madness is now showing. We have no way of knowing why he is behaving like this."

 **"Come off! Come off! Come off!" he repeated as Ren and Nora tried to pry him away from it. "You're not gonna sully their memory dammit! We always kept this clean!" he yelled as Pyrrha joined in, ripping the tube from his bloody hands as he frantically reached for it.**

 **"Jaune! Please its us, calm down!" she begged as Jaune let out a frustrated yell.**

 **"No! Its all I have left of them, please! I need to keep them cleaned or it would tarnish his words!" he said as they held him in place, tears running down his face as he frantically fought, sometimes getting of their grasps.**

 **"Jaune snap out of it!" Ren yelled, losing his cool demeanor as he saw his friend and brother injuring himself. For what? Some words? But he didn't stop, no he was fighting back and was slowly winning. Memories of his squad flashed before his eyes. One showing them fighting together. Another showing how they lost one of their own. He was getting angry and Nora saw this. She once saw this same killing intent years ago, a memory she never wants to revisit.**

 **"I'm sorry." she said as she reared her fist and punched Jaune, knocking him unconsciousness, she'd hope he would understand. Pyrrha cradled him as Ren mended his wounds. Team RWBY had come to their room, one because of the commotion and to stop Yang from murdering him for making another member of her team cry. But Nora stopped them. Allowing Pyrrha to explain what happened before pointing at the blood covered tube, the writing covered in his blood. Yang's anger dissipated when Weiss explained what he told her, her anger was now of sympathy as she looked at his unconscious form. Weiss put down the helmet, Yang looking at it with hatred. She no longer wanted to hurt Jaune, he was a victim of someone far more cruel. She wanted to hurt them.**

"Do you think our other selves are going to be able to save him?" asked Ruby.

"Maybe," conceded Yang. "I mean, we can't be sure, but it must be right? I mean…"

"We will surely try," specified Weiss. "Although we have no way of knowing whether we will be successful or not. He might not even want our help, or our attempts might wound him even further. As General Ironwood said, our other selves know nothing of what he went through. We could say or do something wrong, and it might be the end of our friendship."

Ruby tried to blink the tears out of her eyes, unsuccessfully. "But… the good guys always win, right?"

"Alas, this is not a fairytale, Ms Rose. The real world is not fair nor 'good'," stated the General. "To be honest, I fear the chances for your other selves to actually heal his scars are next to nothing. None of you would know how to handle his trauma, and you would just try too hard to be careful, just to snap too hard whenever he were to ignore your attempts. I do not wish to demoralize you after telling you not to focus on demoralizing topics, but I do not think your other selves have a chance."

 **-Aboard The Emperor's Judgement-**

 **"Why can't I execute him?!" demanded the Watchmaster as he stared at his Officer. The Officer wore a more ornate armor than the others. His great coat was more clean than others but was still covered in holes from lasguns and previous battles. His metal chest plate, dented and covered in blood splatters from previous war they had fought in. He breathed heavily through his respirator as he looked at the soldier before. A Death Korps Officer, one could only achieve this rank if they survived hundreds of battles.**

 **"Watchmaster Kagor, compose yourself!" ordered the Officer as the man before straightened himself.**

 **"My apologies my Lord, I overstepped." he apologized, looking directly at his officer.**

 **"I understand your frustrations with the soldier Jaune arc, he has shown many times to be unwilling to comply with the duties of a Krieg guardsmen." he wasn't alone, the officer was quite annoyed by this boy's actions. Granted Jaune was an excellent tactician, able to come up with plans rather quickly and use some soldiers to their full strength. But he was still resisting his duties! His actions during the cleansing was one of many, he would have been executed for his actions were it not for the high lords placing a special protection order on the boy. "Thank the Emperor for the procedure. His activation words will always ensure he'll comply but sooner or later, he needs to do it of his own will." he stated as the Watchmaster spoke up.**

 **"But he should be dead! He makes a mockery of The Death Korps." the anger in his response was clearly visible. "Its like he isn't from Krieg."**

"Yeah, fuck you too," growled Yang, irises turning red. "Not even a minute onscreen and that guy is already on my beat-up list."

"Unfortunately, such people are not uncommon in the military," sighed Ironwood. "If our own army has people obsessed with discipline and control, I cannot fathom how it must be in those 'Death Korps', where discipline is everything."

"I'm still miffed about the fact they are controlling Jaune and forcing him to kill people," Pyrrha hissed dangerously. "What kind of person would ever do that?!"

"No one you know, but you are still young. I do have seen people like him in our own world. People who would gladly kill for discipline," countered the General. "You know nothing of war, and that is understandable. But as such, you cannot judge those who do. This 'Watchmaster' is surely a cruel man, in your minds. Have you thought he could just be like Mr Arc, with even more years of trauma on his shoulders?"

The students looked down at that. No, they hadn't thought of that. They had just jumped to hating him, even if he could've been a victim himself.

"The world is not black and white, students. And people are never born monsters," stated the man. "You should keep this in mind at all times. Even the most despicable person in the entire world was not born so. This world is unfair and for every lucky child like you there is an unlucky one who will hate their life and their world."

 **"He's not." the watchmaster was surprised by the answer of his Officer.**

 **"What do you mean sir?"**

 **"Jaune Alexandros Arc is not from our planet. He's not a full blooded citizen of Krieg." the Officer sat down as he removed his ornate helmet, he looked at the holy symbol of the Imperialis. A winged golden skull, the wings representing the holy Aquila while the skull in the center represents the Emperor's sacrifice for the salvation of Humanity. The Death Korps always looked to his sacrifice as inspiration for their sacrifice.**

 **"Jaune was discovered one day in one of the city depths after we detected an unusual burst of energy." he explained to the Watchmaster. "He was fighting an unusual creature that was black as the void but with bone like armor. We were able to kill the creature and extract the boy. Before we could examine the creature, it vanished into a black like smoke. Leaving nothing behind."He remembered getting that report, they feared a Xenos invasion or some new Tyranid was on Krieg. Despite their thorough search, they never found another. They turned their attention to the boy and thoroughly interrogated him. "He had no knowledge of Krieg or the Imperium." He grew silent before continuing.**

 **"He didn't even know who the God-Emperor was." this stunned the Watchmaster. How did one not know the master of mankind? The one true god and ruler of a million worlds? He needed to know more. "We noticed that his injuries were slowly healing themselves, even the ones from his interrogation were almost gone. We alerted the inquisition to this, fearing we discovered a pysker or something born from the warp."**

"What is the warp? Is it something like the Grimmlands?" Ruby asked, looking around.

"We do not know, Ms Rose. We are not of that universe, after all," replied Ozpin. "I am unfamiliar with the term he used, 'pysker', but I guess it to be some place or entity that creates unnatural beings. What they are referring to, though, is surely Mr Arc's Aura. Do they not have it?"

"That would explain how easily they died in the battle," noted Ren. "Maybe their Aura was locked?"

"Unlikely. If they have such impressive military technologies, I doubt they would've overlooked the lack of Aura in their soldiers," replied Ironwood. "It is more probable for them not to know about it. As they said, it was an unknown power. They are unaware of what Aura is."

"But Aura…" began Blake.

"Is common knowledge among us, but might very well be unknown in that universe," replied the man. "This is not out own world, Ms Belladonna. We must take into consideration that there might be serious changes, and so we must adapt. Aura might not even _exist_ in their world."

[3,142 words]

 **"What happened?"**

 **"He wasn't tainted by the warp. He had not even a speck of its power on him but something else. We don't know what it is but it heals his body. We learned that depending on the severity of his wounds, his power would heal him faster." the officer continued. "The High Lords told me leave him the death korps, to ensure he was always in danger and enduring more trauma to better understand that power and one day harness it for the Imperium. Even one day use it to heal the Emperor." the last response left his Watchmaster speechless. To heal the Emperor? To bring him back? Could that be possible? "Few in the inquisition believe him to be a miracle of the Emperor, blessed with this power by him to save him."**

 **"Really? The Emperor would give someone like him that power?" he scoffed. His Officer rose quickly.**

 **"Do you say you know the Emperor's will? That you know more than him?!" the watchmaster stepped back, frightened at the accusations.**

 **"No! Never! I would never dare to assume that i know more than his holy majesty!" he said, looking down in disgust at himself.**

 **"Good. For now Jaune arc is be left in his cell. In time he will see our way and soon his power will be fully understood so that we can use it. You are dismissed!" he ordered as the Watchmaster saluted before leaving the room. Sooner or later, Jaune will follow orders without using the trigger words. He will become an ideal Death Korps, he just needs to be broken some more before he can be molded.**

"YOU ABSOLUTE BASTARD!" Yang screamed in fury, her eyes blood red, as she uselessly punched the screen where the man's head had been just a second before, but the viewing had ended.

The others, though, weren't far behind.

Ruby was seething, despite her usually bright and cheerful attitude. Weiss was fuming and even Blake showed signs of anger despite her usually quiet personality. Pyrrha was bending all the magnetic metals in the room with her Semblance, and Ironwood was finding that to be kinda dangerous as his whole right side was made of metal. Nora was absolutely furious, and Ren was having trouble controlling his own emotions despite his Semblance.

"Now, now, now," Ozpin stepped in with a calm that, to be honest, just angered them more. "The entity who brought us here was clear about this, this universe is not going to provoke positive reactions. That being said, you cannot do anything and you are just wasting your time and energies by being angry. I suggest you all to take a break for now. You've earned it."

The students grumbled, unwilling to do as commanded. Ironwood was the one to take the lead. "Students, as General I know that sometimes, there is nothing you can do to improve the situation. You will just have to sit this through and hope, when we will be sent back, to find your friend unharmed as promised. This is literally _all_ you can do. There is no other choice. Anger will only leave you hollow later."

One by one, their rampaging emotions calmed down, and the students just slumped in their couches. No one felt like eating something or doing anything. The two adults exchanged a glance, and all they could do was sigh.

Like the students, they were powerless.

 ** _So, this AN's title should be "I hate WiFi troubles", 'cause today my WiFi was flickering on and off. Anyway, I'm going to just soldier through._**

 ** _Got it? Soldier... with this story... eh, I know lordrednight would be proud of me for this pun, I'm getting more Yang-like, but honestly now I'm cringing._**

 ** _Until next time,_**

 ** _Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Heya, I'm back~ Today was a little hard for me, but I managed to survive! Anyway, I just wanted to tell you this: having WiFi problems when you live off fanfic writing is horrible. So... third commissioned chapter for The Sins of the Past, by azuring-galaxy, here it is._**

 ** _Also, I hate my brother. Like... not hate-hate, but I can't stand him and his behaviour. He does nothing all day, talks me into unconsciousness (I might have mentioned it in another fic, he literally talked until I almost fainted), uses the already limited WiFi to search those stupid game-y things of his (and then he HAS to make me read them...) and all around is useless and a weight! My family is going through something of an financial crisis and at least needs support as in "do your house chores and help a little with the baby". He does the housechores only when repeatedly called out on them, and his way of taking care of our little brother is to shove him in front of a screen to watch a movie while he plays with the phone. It's... it's infuriating, and the worst part is that he gets annoyed when you ask him to do something because "huff, do I have to do EVERYTHING?". That little hypocrite shit... if he weren't my brother I'd hate him._**

Despite Ozpin's suggestion, and Ironwood's words, no one of them 'took a break'. They were emotionally drained already, and they had just begun. They just didn't want to see their friend suffer any more. They were all good people at heart, and even though some -like Weiss- did not explicitly show their care for the blond knight, they all felt pity at what his alternative version was going through.

Ruby just wanted to hug him and never let go of him ever again. She had developed a small crush on him, nothing she couldn't keep a secret, but first and foremost she was his friend and fellow leader. It hurt her enough to see and hear him put himself down in their… she guessed she could call it 'home universe'… but seeing him go through such hardships and trauma was straight-out heart-wrenching. He did _not_ deserve any of that, yet he went through it nonetheless. She understood why Jaune hadn't been allowed to come as well, but at the moment she really wanted to give him a hug, both to ensure he was still there, and to calm her own rampaging negativity. It was no secret she was easily his best friend. And to her, it was no secret she might've wanted for them to be closer, maybe, for him to be her boyfriend. But romantic or not, her bond with him was too strong to just ignore what he was going through in another universe. Had their own Jaune been there as well, she might've endured it better with him, but without him… all her empathy was used to feel for his alternative self, and all she could feel was compassion.

Weiss had more… conflicting emotions. Of course she too was angered by Jaune's unjust fate, but she had been raised better than to just let emotions show. She understood just how much the other Jaune had to have suffered, or rather she _couldn't_ understand the enormity of his pain, but she also knew that life was rarely fair. Weiss knew that despite what he had to go through being utterly horrible, she also knew that there was no answer to the question 'why?'. There was no why, it just happened. It didn't make it any easier to bear, but it made it so much easier to understand. Alas, the burden of seeing Jaune like that was heavy. Weiss rejected his advances often, and she would continue to do so, but that didn't mean she wished him ill. He was just… too stubborn to understand a 'no' and too doltish to focus on girls he actually had a chance with. Weiss didn't wish him ill, she just wished for him to stop pestering her. She wouldn't go as far as saying they were friends, but they _were_ acquaintances.

Blake… to be honest, Blake hadn't spoken much with Jaune all thorough the time their teams had spent together. While she was indeed usually silent, she did speak up sometimes, but more often than not she would reply to Jaune with short, clipped sentences. She didn't have anything against him, of course, but he was… definitely not her ideal type of friend. She had been forced to live with her team and had adapted, but just like she didn't speak much with Nora, she didn't speak much with Jaune. She didn't like his clumsiness and his lack of knowledge. To be honest, she didn't particularly like him as a whole, but she respected his drive and his selflessness. His kindness and his acceptance for the Faunus were welcome as well. For someone like Blake, the pain she felt was a bit dulled, but that didn't mean she couldn't feel it. It was still there, aching and hurting, under all the self-control she had over herself.

Yang's emotions were simpler. More primal, even. She was furious at the universe for having done such a thing to her friend, and she was furious at the entity who brought them there for forcing them to watch as Jaune suffered and they couldn't do anything about it. Jaune was far from her model of good friend or boyfriend, but he was a friend. A kinda weird-to-hang-out-with, awkward, clumsy, weak friend, but a friend nonetheless. But she was also sad about everything his alternative self had to endure. The 'dunce', as Weiss called him, didn't deserve any of that shit. He wasn't the best fighter nor student of Beacon, but that didn't mean he should've suffered so much.

Pyrrha…

Pyrrha was simple. She loved Jaune. She loved him and seeing him suffer, even if just an alternative version of him, hurt. It hurt so much and she was holding back the tears. She knew they weren't going to solve anything but she couldn't help but feel the pain. Maybe Ironwood was right, and maybe they shouldn't have focused on the negativity, but how could she ignore her partner's pain, even though from another universe? It was just not possible. The General might've held truth and wisdom in his words, but those were a truth and a wisdom she didn't want to embrace. How could she? How could she just ignore his sufferance when she lived with him every day? She might've been referring to his soul with _'Infinite in distance and unbound by Death'_ , but that didn't mean her Aura chant couldn't apply to her own feelings as well. Different universe or not, that was still Jaune. A different one, but Jaune nonetheless.

Nora… she was sad, that much was clear. But surprisingly, she shared Weiss's opinion on that. She had been an orphan, scavenging for food in the trash even _before_ Kuroyuri was destroyed. Where Ren could remember happy times with his family she couldn't. Every time she tried she only remembered cold, loneliness, and hunger. She knew that the world was not a kind place when one was on their own. Sticking with people was the way to remain happy. The fact she accepted it didn't mean she wasn't hurt at seeing Jaune being so thoroughly devastated. It was like someone had taken the boy and methodically destroyed him piece by piece, hurting him in a way that was far more obvious and far more subtle than scars. What the other Jaune had gone through had left scars on his body and his soul alike.

Ren partly shared Nora's and Weiss's opinions, but he too had a slightly different one. While it was true that Nora had gone through worse than Ren had, sometimes the boy thought that maybe he would be better off not remembering how it was before he became an orphan. In a similar way, he wondered if the fact that Jaune still remembered them during his time in the 'Death Korps' hadn't made it all worse. Living in misery as far as one could remember, sometimes, was easier than living with memories of happier times… now impossible to reach again. Ren considered Jaune his non-blood brother, and he would've hated for something like that to happen to their own universe's Jaune.

Ozpin and General Ironwood alike were just silent, waiting for something to happen among the children. They were honestly expecting for negativity to explode or at least for some of the to cry, but instead what they got was so much worse. Silence. Hollow silence hung over them, not the tense silence that came before a storm, but the hollow silence of a dead wasteland left with nothing to sound out in the emptiness. Hearing such a silence among students so young was not something they wished to hear ever again. Silence in people like themselves, like Qrow… it was a way of coping. When everything was just so much that even trying to vent wouldn't work, silence and time were the only ways to move on.

Seeing the students use such ways so young… it unsettled them. It made them wonder just how young -in terms of maturity- they really were. After Ozpin had suggested a break, he had expected them to talk a little, maybe in hushed tones and grave voices, and maybe to do something to take a small break. He had been unpleasantly surprised when no one had moved, no one had spoken, and a hollow silence had settled in the room. He hated such silences. It was a silence of defeat and weakness. His words were meant to improve them, to teach them how to gain strength from pain, but instead they had apparently erased what little flame they still had.

He just wished he could remedy his grievous mistake.

"Can we… just go on?".

At the young reaper's request, the screen lit up and continued narrating the story that was breaking them all.

 **The cell vibrates every now and then as it made its way through the Warp, An alternate dimension of almost liquid energy, devoid of life, stars, and light as it is commonly known. The ship rides the warp current, thanks to the Navigators who can see into the warp and follow the light of the Emperor through this hellish place. It was thanks to this, the Imperial Navy is able to travel faster than light to get to planets or systems. He was able to learn this thanks to a navigator that he met on an Imperial world they had managed to save from rebellion.**

"A… warp?" repeated Ruby, confused. "Why would they risk travelling through something as dangerous as that one is described? Just because they don't care about death?"

"Sometimes, an army has to take risks in order to arrive within time, Ms Rose," explained Ironwood, rubbing his forehead. "Alas, these 'Death Korps' apparently use it to reach planets faster, and thus causing even more destruction. In their case, their willingness to throw away their lives is an advantage. While sometimes preserving soldiers can eventually lead to victory, they apparently have an unlimited army of suicidal warriors. And for the ones who refuse, they can evidently force them to fight nonetheless."

"Damn them," whispered Yang, her eyes red. "Damn them all."

 **"Wonder when we'll be out of it. Always get this feeling of dread whenever we warp-jump." he said to himself, looking around his cell. The lights had turned on shortly after the jump, though they were dim but provided just enough to see the picture of him and Pyrrha. He had decided to get off the slab of metal that was his so called bed, deciding to lean against the wall of his adjacent to the cell next to his. He could hear shuffling in the cell, probably another prisoner, doubt it was another Death Korps member.**

"To add to their sins, not even the worst criminal should have a cell such as that," growled Blake, and Ironwood looked away. Some of the containment cells on his Admiral Warship were barely enough for the prisoner to stay seated the whole time, and the light was no better than the Death Korps' battleship's. The knowledge of being worse than an army like them tied his stomach in knots, and he resolved to change those cells into something more human as soon as he went back to Atlas.

It didn't matter if he had been sleeping at the time, he would force himself out of bed to rectify such an inhuman treatment. The prisoners were criminals, sure, but they were still people. He wouldn't allow himself to step as low as imprisoning a person in such a cell.

 **"Human." a somewhat deep raspy voice came from behind him. Jaune jumped at that point and looked around, that didn't sound human whatsoever.**

 **"Who said that?" he questioned, wondering if it was probably whoever was next to his cell. Gods, he hoped that he wasn't losing it. He was relieved when he got an answer however.**

 **"Me, a fellow prisoner just like you." the voice was definitely coming from the cell next to his. The voice though, it sounded tired but sense of command in them. Jaune calmed down, going back to his original position, he wasn't in any danger. The cell shook more as the battlecruiser made its way through the warp, traveling to the next battle and the next after that. It was never ending, battle after battle. "War is all I will know now huh?" he asked himself as he closed his eyes.**

"I don't like that voice," murmured Nora, something very strange for the normally loud bomber. "It's not evil, but it's just… alien. Strange… scary."

"As it said it probably belongs to a non-human entity or alien," noted Ozpin, racking his brains for a voice even just remotely similar to that one. He couldn't remember having ever heard of it before. "Those 'Death Korps' apparently take prisoners, after all, and alien races are among those imprisoned ones. Even decades in a cell cannot make your voice as raspy as that one, so I'll have to hazard a guess. Maybe it belongs to some kind of alien we haven't seen yet."

"It's a possibility," nodded Blake. "Although, to tell the truth, I'm kinda curious as to how those aliens would live. I mean, they wouldn't be like humans, what would they eat? Would they even need to eat?"

"Those are many questions and we have no answer, Ms Belladonna," replied Ironwood, shrugging slightly. "Aside from our current inability to reach the outer space, it's possible we wouldn't even be able to recognize aliens. What to us could look like a rock could be an alien as well. We cannot be sure of anything."

"Maybe Crescent Rose is an alien, since you talk with 'him' so much, eh Ruby?" Yang nudged her younger sister, earning a pout in response. "Come on, it was just a joke. I know you built it yourself, I just so happened to have been forced to watch over you the whole time to avoid you to hurt yourself with the forge."

"I would've been fine."

"If you say so…"

 **"So, who are you?" he finally asked to the prisoner, maybe pass the time with some small talk. His neighbor was silent for a while, making him wonder if they passed out or just decided to ignore him, but both answers were wrong when they spoke up.**

 **"My name is Kor'O Vior'La Man'me of the fire caste, though the Gue'vesa under my command called me Kor." he responded.**

 **A Tau prisoner, a warrior nonetheless. He knew he wasn't the same Tau that watched him come in, that one was near the bulkhead. The Tau, it was thanks to these Xenos that an entire planet was doomed to be slaughtered. So many innocent people died because the actions of the few that wanted to join them. He couldn't forgive them, not after what they caused. Not after what he was forced to do because of their actions.**

"Anyone else who noticed how this 'Tau' alien and our 'host' have basically the same name?" Pyrrha spoke up with a frown on her face. "Kor and Khor. Identical pronounce although I cannot be sure of how they are written. Maybe this alien has a language that's even written differently from ours, but the pronounces are the same."

"Maybe this alien is the alternative version of our 'host'?" offered Ren. "He introduced himself as a person who 'earned the power of Wandering', so he might still have alternative versions of himself in other universes."

"If so, I'm gonna find him in Remnant and beat him so much he'll forget his own name," promised Yang, not pleased with having been brought there by force. "We owe him so much pain already, and we've just begun this 'universe watching' thing."

"I would recommend against possibly angering someone of his power," noted Ironwood, knowing just how easily irritable some people were. "He might see your actions in Remnant and use his powers to get revenge."

"How can you get revenge on a revenge?!" exclaimed the blonde brawler. "He deserves it!"

"People don't always reason like that, Ms Xiao Long," Ozpin interrupted, trying to calm her down before someone -most probably her- got hurt. "You might think it fair but he might not share your opinion. I suggest you all, when we'll go back to our universe, to just be thankful you will be done with extradimensional beings messing with your lives… I hope so, at least."

 **"What do you want?" he asked, anger could be heard in his question. That didn't go unnoticed by the warrior but he didn't mind it. He could understand to some extent the human had for him and their cause. But he didn't regret it, it was for the greater good after all.**

 **"You are one of them? The Forsaken ones." he said to him. Jaune was confused by this, "Forsaken ones?" did he mean the Death Korps? He shook his head and decided to answer.**

 **"If you mean the Death Korps, then yes. I am."**

 **"Why are you in here? If you are one of the Forsaken, then why would you be here? With the rest of us prisoners?" he asked, Kor was wondering what this Forsaken did to earn his place among the conquered. Maybe he could sway the human to his side, but from what he had seen and learned, the Forsaken were frantically loyal to their "God" so he doubted it. But it would be good to talk, before he met his death.**

"What a horrible way of thinking," commented Ironwood. "No one should think of doing something only because Death is closing in on them."

"Unfortunately, Mr Arc is _not_ normal any more. Any particle of light has been annihilated by what he was forced to do, and now he is weaving in the darkness, blindly holding onto his fading memories, and at the same time condemned by those very memories," replied Ozpin, voice saddened and head kept low. "I… I honestly have no wish to watch this any further, but alas we do not have a say in this. But I can indeed say this: once we will be out of this, we shall all see Mr Arc in a different light. We will all be glad he hasn't gone through anything like this."

Yang chuckled weakly. "Imagine his face when he receives a letter from Ironwood telling him he's glad he's okay…"

A few others chuckled too at the scene, even Ironwood himself. "I'll make sure to oblige, Ms Xiao Long," he stated after the chuckles had subsided, taking out his Scroll. "May I have Mr Arc's contact info?"

"Wait, are you serious?" asked Pyrrha.

"Why not, Ms Nikos?" countered Ozpin, drawing his own device to show Ironwood Jaune's number. Since he was Headmaster of Beacon, he had all Beacon Scroll numbers saved in his phone. "It's a good idea."

 **Jaune was quiet. He didn't really want to answer that, mostly because he didn't want relive those three days. Those three days of murdering men, women and children. Burning homes and spilling blood. Innocent blood. He couldn't stop himself, despite badly he wanted to and gods did he try, he couldn't. Whatever his Watchmaster did, it made Jaune compliant to any order that he was given. When he was told to burn a family alive, he did without any hesitation. Gods, he hated himself so much and now this thing wants to know why he's here? He sighed, well not like it will matter in the long run. This Tau will be dead soon anyway and it was better than being left alone with his thoughts.**

 **"I didn't follow orders. The ones you managed to turn away from the Emperor's light needed to be punished but I refused to kill the innocent who were still faithful to the Imperium. But they were guilty by association thanks to your actions." Kor listening intently as the soldier explained to him. Kor remembered that many didn't wish to join the Tau Empire or fight for the Greater good, normally they would have been conquered or taken prisoner but the one who commanded the invasion opted to let them leave to their Imperium's space. A controversial move but one that was positively received by the newly acquired Gue'vesa and those that came with them. "I didn't want to kill civilians, People who couldn't defend themselves. People who were scared and crying to be spared. People who were still loyal." Kor heard his voice crack a bit, despite it being muffled by his respirator. "But i was forced to." this perked his interest greatly. This Forsaken Soldier, he was different. First, he wasn't fanatically loyal like the others. If he was talking to another soldier, they would be trying to get to him or cursing him. But this one wasn't. This one was...Kind? Or Innocent? Maybe the former but the latter was most likely gone after what transpired on that planet. Though knowing the Forsaken, it was probably taken along time ago.**

"Sadly, so true…" sighed Ironwood, the lightness from earlier already dispelled. "I wonder whether we will ever get to see a lighter scene from this, or if we shall have to witness Mr Arc's descent into insanity by his trauma."

The students shivered at that. Seeing how much he was hurt was already horrible as it was, they didn't want to add anything else to the pile. And to tell the truth, that Jaune probably had already partly gone insane.

Then Ruby perked up and spoke. "Hey, what about doing a sleepover when we get back?" she offered to the other students. "So we all get to see if Jaune's alright and we can sleep well without… many… nightmares."

"I like it," nodded Yang, and the others soon followed. Even Weiss reluctantly agreed, but only if she was allowed to sleep on a bed.

 **"What do you mean forced?" he asked, curious as to how this one was forced to kill.**

 **"My watchmaster, said somethings to me and I couldn't control my body afterwards. Whatever he commanded I did without any hesitation. So I killed all of them." Jaune finished, hoping that would sate the Tau's question.**

 **Kor was silent, hes heard of warriors forced into a trance in order to be compliant perfect warriors. He didn't think the Forsaken would do need to do that to one of their own, not after seeing them fight and what they did to the surviving Gue'vesa. They did whatever was told of them of their own free will but this one had to be put into a trance.**

 **He sighed before speaking; "We were gonna let them leave." he told the young boy, maybe to lessen the hostilities between them. Maybe lessen his guilt on someway.**

"What?" asked Ruby, confused.

"Apparently, this 'Tau' race was going to allow the ones who didn't wish to join them… to leave their empire peacefully, or at least that's what I gathered from his… her… _the alien's_ words," replied Ironwood, sighing deeply. "Just… watch on, and we shall see if my hypothesis is correct or not."

 **"What? What do you mean?" Jaune asked, his voice rising a bit.**

 **"Our Shas'O made the decision to allow those that didn't wish to join us to take their ships and leave. To head into your Empire's controlled space." he heard a slight gasp from the soldier.**

 **Jaune was surprised-no stunned! Everything hes heard and read about the Tau is that they conquer any planets that don't willingly join at first. Those that don't stand with them are either killed or taken prisoner. All for their greater good, he's never heard of them letting people leave to safety if they didn't want to join.**

"This is what I feared," explained Ironwood. "Apparently, these 'Tau's would've allowed those who refused to walk away unscathed, but… the Death Korps arrived and killed everyone, because a few had joined the so-called Empire. And… I fear this will just make Mr Arc more hurt by what he had to do."

"Why?" asked Yang.

"Think about it, Ms Xiao Long. He thought that all of them were going to die nonetheless by the hands of these 'Tau's since he believed they killed everyone who didn't want to join them," replied the General, suddenly looking way older than he had appeared just a few moments earlier. "And now think how it must be for him. He has just been told that even more people died, and they were going to live. It's easier to kill a man you know is going to die no matter what, than a man you know could live if you allowed him to. And given Mr Arc's kind soul…"

"Such knowledge is only going to harm him further," nodded Ozpin.

 **"He is an abnormal one. But he knew this would benefit our Empire, show your kind that we are forgiving and plant the seeds of doubt towards your Imperium." he didn't care that he was explaining this to the boy, he was a prisoner just like him and he was dead anyways. Whatever the Forsaken wanted with him, it would lead to his death. "So that next time we sent envoys to join us, we would have a much better success and more of those willing to join."**

 **Of course, there was an ulterior motive to it but still, they were gonna allow those who remained loyal to leave. They weren't be forced to stay but they still died. The Death Korps came in to bring the world to heel and they did.**

 **"Some did escape. Left to your Imperium's space. A few of your cities were almost abandoned before you Forsaken arrived." he said to him.**

 **"Really? So some were able to get away?" he asked. He was a bit relieved at this, knowing some were able to get away before they arrived. Some would be spared the horror and pain that the others felt. It didn't take away the guilt though, it was still there. He did kill those that weren't able to get away and he shot down those that were trying to. He sighed, the heaviness coming back.**

Many sighed in relief. "At least, something that went we… better than worst," commented Yang. "I was starting to believe it was all going to be 'and everything, somehow, went worse'. At least some of them managed to escape before those butcherers arrived…"

"I guess not everything always goes poorly," agreed Blake, subconsciously relaxing at the revelation. She hadn't realized her muscles had coiled up so much during the viewing. It was like her instincts were continuously telling her that something bad was going to happen, and to be honest her instincts were kind of right. "I'm glad Jaune has at least that burden off his shoulders. I was starting to think he was going to live five years of continuously gone wrong events. It's a relief to know that at least some people survived. Maybe it'll take some weight off his burden."

"I certainly hope so," confirmed Pyrrha. "He doesn't deserve any of this."

Ironwood and Ozpin exchanged a glance. They knew it was actually unlikely for those people to have survived, but they still had hope.

 **"You carry this guilt. Why? You are a soldier much like me?" Kor asked, he had long come to understand the Greater Good demanded sacrifice and blood to ensure all those came under peace.**

 **"Because I never wanted this. I always wanted to save people, protect those that can't protect themselves. Much like how my ancestors did, like…"his voice trailed off as his mind wondered to his friends. "...Much like how they do. Gods they would hate me now."**

"We could never hate you, Jaune," Ruby murmured, fighting back the tears that threatened to blur her vision. "Please, believe me, we would never hate you nor leave you. If only we could do something…"

Yang placed a hand on her shoulder. "We can't, unfortunately. We can't, and this is proof of how powerless we sometimes are," she told her motherly. "There are times when we won't have the power to do anything… I know that from experience. I may not be a general or a headmistress but I have experienced something like that. It's horrible, it's something you wish you never have to live, but unfortunately you cannot decide when you'll have the power to do something. Sometimes, you just have to watch and hope."

Ruby nodded without a word, but inwardly she was thinking hard on those words. A plan was already forming in her little leader head. She was going to confess to Jaune. She knew Pyrrha had feelings for him as well, so she would at least ask him about what he felt for the tall redhead, but she didn't want to wait any more. A part of her felt sorry for Pyrrha since she knew the Amazon was too shy to tell him herself, and a part of her was shy too, but she couldn't allow the chance to slip by her fingers. Although the thought of telling him still scared her, she took comfort in it.

 **"We all have to do what must be done, even if it goes against our individual moral codes. You for your Emperor and me for the Greater goo-"**

 **"Greater good?!" Jaune yelled, anger seething from him. "Your "Greater Good" killed so many people. I've read about planets obliterated because it didn't wish to join you. I've even met survivors that we've rescued, telling us how you Tau killed anyone that didn't stand with you!" he waited for a response, tired of hearing about the Greater Good from the Tau he's met briefly. They never elaborated on it, just that it was the best for living beings in the universe to unite under it and the Tau. "You Greater Good has caused nothing but misery for Imperial worlds." He calmed down, realizing he just turned a conversation into an argument. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know what came over me.." he sighed as the two fell silent.**

 **"Your people will never understand, for time neither did I, but eventually i did." he explained, breaking the silence. "I believe you are too, slowly coming to realize your Imperium's beliefs. I can't properly explain it to you, as it I doubt it would matter. But the Greater good is much more and needed for the Universe." Silence grew between them for a while, Kor wondering if the hostilities have returned but was pleasantly surprised when they didn't.**

 **"Why do you call the Death Korps Forsaken Kor?" he asked, the question lingering in his head.**

"I'm pretty sure we aren't gonna like the explanation," commented Ren, sighing deeply. Just three viewings, and he had already guessed how it was going to go next. He had always had a knack for predicting the 'future', but foreseeing something like that was easy. "It's becoming something of a recurrent theme."

"And then everything went wrong?" snorted Yang. "You know, it's not too far from the truth, if I have to be honest."

Ironwood sighed and shook his head. "You are still children, so I will forgive you, but keep in mind that war is all but kind. Every second is something that goes worse. You cannot hope to find something good in war," he stated gravely, making them look at him. "Mr Arc especially is going through a war that is one of the worst ones I've ever seen. It is foolish, naive and childish to hope that something is going to get better. Those people who 'survived' are lucky they did. It's a miracle, not a normal occurrence."

The students looked down at that. For a child, it's impossible to realize they're being childish until someone calls them out on it. As well, the students hadn't realized how naive they were being until someone who knew of war had called them out on it, and now they were ashamed to have allowed themselves to be so naive.

 **Kor was silent for a bit, before speaking; "Your people, the Death Korps, I see how they throw their lives needlessly. I watched a group charge at us, despite being under heavy fire, they continue charging not caring that their own were falling." he continued, remembering how he ordered that group to be killed. Though it mattered not, as more charged and eventually overcame their fortifications. "You fight with reckless abandonment, not caring in the slightest for your own lives but rather the enemy. I've seen hundreds of Forsaken throw themselves against a Fort, just to cause a small breach in it. I see that you all carry a heavy burden, one that pushes you to fight till death takes you. Thats why I call you Forsaken, because you all have Forsaken yourselves." he finished, waiting for a response. He heard clipping sounds from the cell before he heard a voice no longer muffled by the mask but a young one. One of kindness and hope, but slowly losing both those things.**

 **"You're not wrong Kor, Kriegsmen don't care about our lives much. But you would be surprised that we do care about the lives of our fellow comrades. Yes, we individually have given up our lives but we look at another Kriegsmen and hope they survive the battle to fight on or return home to Krieg." he told him, hearing a small sigh. Jaune smiled a bit, remembering Titus. He told Jaune he hoped he would survive the war and return home one day. To meet his friends, wherever they are in the Imperium. Titus, the only Krieg Guardsmen that watched over him during the previous battles, making sure he was alright. He misses him.**

"Comradeship is common among all armies," Ironwood told them before they could even speak up. "Do not think this is 'things are going better'. No, this is just war. When you are fighting for your lives-"

"James, I think that's enough," Ozpin interrupted him. "You are… unsettling them."

Ironwood halted and looked at his old friend, who in turn nodded toward the students. Following his eyes, Ironwood felt a pang of regret. He shouldn't have been so harsh. Ruby seemed on the verge of crying, as well as Pyrrha and Nora. Ren's expression and body language was tense, extremely tense, and Blake wasn't far behind, although her eyes held more sadness than tension in them. Weiss sat rigid and trying to reign in her emotions, but it was clear she was as troubled as the others. And finally Yang seemed tired. Just very, very tired. Weary of the unfairness of the world, maybe.

Ironwood sighed and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry," he apologized weakly. "I… I allowed my temper to run free while I should've kept it under control. I… I'm very sorry."

 **"What is your name? I've given you mine but have no idea what to call you. Truth be told, Forsaken doesn't fit you."**

 **"My name is Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it." he chuckled a bit at the last part, it felt good. To laugh like this again.**

"He-He… he m-missed laughing?" Ruby's voice trembled dangerously. Her tears were threatening to finally spill, and they weren't going to stop once they started. "H-How… how l-long did he n-n-not laugh?"

"For far too long, Ms Rose," replied Ironwood, his eyes lowering to the floor as memories from his own past depressions resurfaced. "For far too long…"

 **"From warrior to another, its an honor to meet you Jaune Arc." Kor said as the two conversed more. They may have met on the battlefield as Enemies but the cells brought them together as friends for the time being. Though unbeknownst to Jaune, this would be the last time he felt this happiness.**

 **-Beacon Infirmary-**

 **Jaune's hand hadn't healed that well. His aura having not been able to heal him properly, leaving some of his wounds open partially. They couldn't understand what was wrong, his Aura reserves were well normal for Jaune but it wasn't healing him, it almost as if something was stopping it from doing so. Despite their pleas, Jaune's friends were sent back to their dorms while Glynda Goodwitch stayed along with a doctor to talk about why one of her student's were like this. She may come off as strict and at times heartless, but Glynda cared about all her students. It was her job to ensure they would become the next generation of hunters but she also understood they were children, children who still needed care and attention from time to time.**

 **"Its like his body is fighting off his own Aura. seeing it as a hostile invader." the doctor said, examining the unconscious boy's aura levels. While he was explaining on what he thought was happening, Glynda examined Jaune. Still wondering if this was the same boy that snuck his way into Beacon. She looked at the various scars adorned all over his body, arms, legs and even face. Making notes of them and wondering what caused them, though one caught her eye. She looked closer, hoping she was wrong before seeing her suspicions sadly confirmed.**

"How can his body fight off his Aura?!" exclaimed Yang, bewildered. "It's… it's… it's impossible! It's against nature!"

"Remember how he kept his Aura even in a world without Aura?" Ozpin asked rhetorically. "Apparently, he might've adapted to that world too much, losing his control over it. And now that is in Remnant again, his body still recognizes Aura as an outsider that needs to be dealt with."

"But our Aura is our soul!" protested Blake. "Only Grimm don't have it! Did Jaune _lose_ his soul?!"

The mere idea of it tied knots in many stomachs, but fortunately Ozpin shook his head. "No, Ms Belladonna, but he doesn't know how to use it any more, and thus considers it a danger to his body," he explained slowly. "I… I didn't know something like that was possible… but I guess it is, as he looks to have trouble healing."

 **"Someone tried to slit his throat." she said, looking at the scar, seeing it looked jagged and didn't seem deep. As if the person either didn't know what they were doing or were having second thoughts.**

 **"I looked at it earlier, it appears…" the doctor's voiced trailed off, wondering what transpired that came to such an act.**

 **"Speak doctor, what is it?" she asked, wondering what kind of person would considering doing that to a child.**

 **"...its self-inflicted Headmistress." he said, the atmosphere in the room dropped as her eyes widened in response to what she was told. She backed up a bit, trying to comprehend what she was just told. She looked back at him, still asleep, small tears forming near the edges of her eyes.**

Every student in the room just froze, unable to process the doctor's words nor what they implied. It was just too much too soon, too much too quickly.

Ironwood sighed and closed his eyes. "Just how many of my men actually did that?" he asked himself, calling forth crimson memories of bodies laying in pools of their own blood. He shook his head but the images remained, sometimes even of men and women just past their twenties. "Ironic how I am General… and yet I hate war more than anyone else."

"Because war has taken much from you, my friend," Ozpin reminded him. "You are not the way you are reasonlessly. No one in this room is this way for no reason."

 **"How do you know?" she asked, she tried to remain stoic but memories flooded her head of similar situations of Hunters that lost their will to live and tried to end their own lives in anyway they could.**

 **"If it was an assault, then it would have gone one way and deep. A quick slice. But this, look see these jagged signs here?" he said, pointing at the scar tissue. She looked, seeing more clearly at it. "This is where the knife would veer off, as if he was trying to keep it steady as best as he could, trying to fight the pain off i presume." he explained more, he was gonna continue but stopped when she saw how visibly disturbed she was getting. "Let him rest, right now we have hands bandaged and it appears the aura is making work, albeit slowly since the body still looks like its fighting it off." She nodded and walked away, trying her best to remain calm but also trying to understand what would make him do such an act of self wounding.**

 **-Aboard the Emperor's Judgments bridge-**

 **"My Lord, we will soon be coming out of the warp-jump above The Shrine World Nehru." The Navigator said.**

 **"Good, WatchMaster, go and bring Jaune Arc to the Valkyrie, I'll be there shortly." The officer ordered, his voice muffled a bit thanks to his respirator. The Watchmaster was a bit shocked but acknowledge the order, leaving with two Kriegsmen to fetch the boy. The Officer stayed silent as he looked at holographic monitor, receiving orders about a situation on the Shrine world.**

 **"This will be a good example, to show Arc what's at stake if he doesn't follow orders and keeps following his heart instead of seeing the bigger picture."**

The screen cut to black, but still no one moved.

Silence reigned on the room, but this time it was different from the hollow silence before the viewing. This time it was a pregnant silence full of slow realization. Ironwood and Ozpin had to watch, powerless, as the students slowly grasped the implications of what had happened. Tears filled their eyes as one by one their postures slumped or coiled into balls. No sound was heard except for the sobs and soft wails that now rang out in the otherwise silent room. Knowing that they could do nothing to stop such pain from reaching them, the two adults just exchanged a glance and shook their heads. They had just discovered that their friend, even just an alternative version of him, had tried to take his own life.

There was nothing they could do to comfort them.

 ** _Okay, super-heavy chapter. I'm kind of too drained to write more in the AN. Just goodbye, and see you later._**

 ** _Until next time,_**

 ** _Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh_**


End file.
